Card holder system

1. A card holder system comprising: a power supply; a plurality of individual card receptacles for receiving and holding cards; sensing means associated with each of said receptacles for determining the presence or the absence of a card therein; security means operably connected to each of said sensing means for emitting a signal caused by the removal of a card from any of said receptacles; activation means for activation and deactivation of said security means; and invalidation means for receiving said signal and thereupon causing a card to be invalidated if said card is removed from said receptacle before deactivation of said security means; wherein said activation and deactivation of said security means for a card in a receptacle can be carried out on at least three levels; wherein the first level comprises full deactivation of said security means to allow removal of said card from said receptacle, the second level comprises partly deactivation of said security means to allow said card to be removed from said receptacle, in which an alarm after a predetermined time indicates that a card has been removed from said receptacle, and wherein the third level comprises the invalidation of said card if said card is removed from said receptacle before deactivation of said security means.

2. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said alarm comprises means for creation of sound, vibrations and/or visual signals.

3. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said invalidation means comprises magnetization means for erasing at least part of the information stored on a magnetic strip on a card.

4. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said invalidation means comprises a high frequency heater for destroying at least part of the magnetic strip on a card, whereby at least part of the information stored on said magnetic strip is erased.

5. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder system comprises transmission means for transmitting said signal from said card holder system to an external receiver connected to external invalidation means.

6. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder system comprises an integrated computer with CPU and ROM.

7. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder system comprises data communication means for communication with the microprocessor in a smart card which is located in a receptacle.

8. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said activation means comprises an alphanumeric keyboard for accepting security codes, activation orders and further alphanumeric input from the user of the card holder system.

9. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said activation means comprises a fingerprint sensor for reading the fingerprint of the user for verification of the user's authorization to access cards in said card holder system.

10. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder system comprises display means for displaying information to the user.

11. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder system further comprises terminal interface means for communicating data to an external computer system.

12. A card holder system according to claim 11 characterized in that said terminal interface means comprises an infrared data transmission port.

13. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder system comprises an integrated mobile telephone.

14. A card holder system according to claim 1 characterized in that said card holder comprises a number of connected sections configured to be engage able to form a structure having the same general dimensions as a credit card, each section having a receptacle for a card, that a metallic strip extends through said number of connected sections forming a loop around said receptacles, and that a mutual disconnection of the number of connected sections resulting in a breakage of said loop causes said invalidation means to invalidate all cards in the card holder system.